


Maybe in Another Timeline...

by turtleturtleturtle



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Rufus is mentioned but not actually in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 08:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14588736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtleturtleturtle/pseuds/turtleturtleturtle
Summary: Set after 2x08.  In 1981, Lucy told Agent (Officer) Christopher that she and Jiya were together.  That's got Lucy thinking and Jiya confessing.A bit of angst, canon Rufus/Jiya but Lucy and Jiya talk about what is and what could've been.





	Maybe in Another Timeline...

**Author's Note:**

> I know the disappointment of thinking a fic is gonna be hella queer and then it's not, so getting this out of the way to start with - Lucy and Jiya don't get together in this. I really, really like Rufus and Jiya together and when I thought of this fic, I was thinking of a "what could have been" kind of tone. It's more about a missed opportunity, when things are good and they don't need to change, but if something had been changed earlier things could be different now. And that's a theme that comes up a lot in Timeless, so I thought it would be interesting to see in this sort of way.
> 
> Also, 2x08 gave me all sorts of Jiya/Lucy feels I didn't know I had, so this is an attempt to deal.
> 
> Also! A content warning - there is talk of outing someone. No one is actually outed, but one character thinks they outed another and they tlk about it. That can be tough to read anyway, so, safe reading everybody! Also, don't out people !!!!!

Lucy found Jiya in the kitchen area late the night they got back from 1981.  It had been a good night; they were all happy to have saved Agent Christopher.  Christopher actually ended up leaving a bit early, but no on could fault her, not after she got so close to losing what mattered most to her.  There was a happy atmosphere, definitely, as they enjoyed a day where the stakes were probably the highest they've ever been and they still managed to make the save, but also there was a heavy atmosphere behind it all.

That atmosphere was something they all had to deal with, to varying degrees.  Lucy had it since the start, since her sister disappeared.  Agent Christopher had to deal with it that day, in front of everyone.  But for everyone else, the thought lingered in their heads that at any moment, time could be changed so that they lost the things most important to them, and never even knew they were lost.  They could never meet the people they loved, or those people could never exist to start with.  

So, after the celebration, after Agent Christopher went home, everyone went their own ways.  Connor went back to the computer, knowing that Christopher had a plan to broach the subject of Jessica and Rittenhouse to Wyatt the next day.  Flynn went to his room alone, but expected certain company.  Wyatt and Jessica went to their room, and Jiya and Rufus went to theirs.

"Hey," Lucy said, passing Jiya sitting at the table over a mug of something that Lucy guessed wasn't just tea.  Lucy went to make her own mug.  "What are you doing up?"

"Rufus knocked out early, I didn't want to keep him up."

"Are you alright?"  It wasn't that late.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jiya said.  "Just couldn't sleep."

"So you chose to sit in silence out here?"

 "It's kind of nice out here," Jiya said, looking around a bit like she knew her words sounded more hopeful than factual.  "In its own way."

"I guess," Lucy laughed, pouring the now-boiling water into her mug.

"You're not trying to sleep, are you?  Are you still sleeping out here?"

"No," Lucy said in a way that did not invite follow-up questions.  "I'm not."

Jiya nodded, accepting it.

"Well, there's whiskey in the cabinet," Jiya said.  "It goes surprisingly well with the tea we've got."  She held up her mug like she was offering proof.

"I think I'm good with just the tea," Lucy said with a small smile.  "So, how was it, getting out there again?"

"Good," Jiya said, smiling wide.  "Really good.  It is so much fun."

"You were good out there."

"Thanks."

Jiya looked content, but Lucy looked worried.

"Hey, listen," Lucy began.  "I'm sorry for outing you earlier."

Jiya coughed a bit, trying to get the last of the tea in her mouth down.  "What?"

"In 1981, when I said to Agent Christopher that we were dating..."

"She knows we're not," Jiya replied, laughing a bit with relief and tipsiness but mostly with how silly this conversation felt.  She didn't feel like Lucy outed her.

"I know," Lucy said, keeping eye contact with Jiya but nervously stirring the tea bag around her mug.  "But she didn't at the time."

"I really don't mind that someone thought we were together," Jiya said, with something of a chuckle in her tone.

Lucy only paused for a beat.  "Still.  We were Facebook friends, I know you used to have a girlfriend-."

"You went that deep into my Facebook?"

"It was just a cover when I said it earlier," Lucy continued, moving right past that.  "But thinking back it feels like I outed you.  I'm sorry, I didn't think it through."

Jiya set her mug down on the table, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.  She was grateful that Lucy thought through her actions enough to realize she might have made Jiya uncomfortable, or even endangered with her.  But Jiya felt safe with her, and with herself.

"Yes, I'm bi," she said.  "It's not something I try to hide.  You came up with a cover, it ended up being closer to the truth than you thought, it's fine.  You didn't out me."

Lucy looked a bit reassured, but not entirely.

"That's part of the job," Jiya continued.  "I know, trust me, that it isn't always safe to be out.  But I trust you, I know it was a cover and that you wouldn't put me in danger if you didn't have to."

"Thank you."

"So," Jiya began.  "You've known the whole time?"

Lucy's face scrunched up a bit.  "Not the whole time, but for a while, yeah."

"Damn," Jiya said, knocking back more of her drink.

"What?" Lucy asked, sitting down across from her.

Jiya shrugged.  "I love Rufus, but he wasn't the only person on the team I had a crush on when all this first started."

"Me?" Lucy guffawed.  "I'm-.  I don't know, I'm not-."

"Queer?  Got it," Jiya said.  She shook her head.  "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, I am," Lucy said.  "I just, I didn't think I was your type."

That was a lot of information for Jiya to process.  She, in her semi-drunken state, decided to only take on part of it.  "You know the phrase 'wife goals or life goals'?"

Lucy let out a laugh.  "What, me?"

"You're smart, you're at the top of your field, you take no shit," Jiya explained.  "Wife goals and life goals, you know?"

Lucy wasn't sure how to react and it showed.  She was surprised, amused, moved.  She felt a lot.

"You know you're describing yourself, right?" she settled on.  "It sounds like you've achieved all those life goals."

"I've learned a lot from you.  We all have."

"Yeah, well, who else is going to tell you guys the name of JFK's boarding school?"

Jiya laughed.  "We're lucky to have you here."

"Rufus is lucky to have you," Lucy said.  "If it weren't for you, he'd have left a long time ago."

"He loves this," Jiya said.  "I think he loves it more than he likes to admit."

"He's a good guy."

"He really is," Jiya replied, smiling.  She meant it.  She wasn't proposing anything to Lucy, she wasn't saying anything should change.  She loved Rufus, she loved being with him, whatever she felt for Lucy was just a crush when they first met.

"You two are really good together," Lucy replied with an equal warmth.  She wasn't trying to change anything, either.  But if Jiya could be this honest with her feelings, Lucy could, too.

"Do you think there are other timelines?" Jiya asked.  "Like, you said you went to 1919, someone died who wasn't supposed to die, Alice..."

"Paul," Lucy supplied.  "Alice Paul.  She wasn't supposed to die for another almost sixty years."

"Do you think there's a universe in which she doesn't die?" Jiya asks.  "Or does that timeline only exist for you, Rufus, Wyatt, and Flynn?"

"I don't know," Lucy admitted.

"Maybe there's a timeline where something happened with us," Jiya said, chuckling into her mug as she finished it off.

"Yeah, maybe."  There was something in Lucy's eyes that told Jiya that she didn't think it was the worst timeline to ever potentially happen.

"How are you doing?" Jiya asked, standing to get a refill.  "With the whole Wyatt thing?"

Lucy exhaled deeply.  "Could you pour me some of that whiskey, actually?"

Jiya gave her a sympathetic look and took her mug.  "Sure."

**Author's Note:**

> What'd we think? This is the first I've written for this show and this is a very short piece, but I think/hope it captures the characters well. Again, I like where these characters are at, I love Jiya and Rufus together and I think Lucy tbh needs some time to herself right now, so I wanted to explore this place these characters are at where they maybe don't want a big dramatic change between them, but it's nice to reassess where they are and how they feel/have felt.
> 
> Anyway, what do you guys think? Also, did anyone else get hella Jiya/Lucy feels after that episode? Someone write some fic, please!


End file.
